Lemon Chess Pie

.…I have a new favorite lemon dessert and it’s this glorious pie. Oh my gosh, lemon chess pie where have you been all my life? It has roots in my state of Virginia which seems very fitting. 

It is a citrus bake for people like me who are obsessed with that tart, almost sour, zingy lemon flavor. People who love lemon curd. 

Truly though, it is similar to pie filled with lemon curd  but there are differences (we’ll get to them in a sec). For a week after I first made it, I’d diligently slice myself a piece and dollop a mound of vanilla ice cream over it and have the most blissful time eating it. 

I can’t wait for my fellow lemon lovers to enjoy this too! 

Recipe Origins 

From what I’ve seen, most lemon chess pie recipes have the same basics: there’s a pie crust, lemon juice, melted butter, eggs, and sugar. It’s like a custard pie, but instead of the usual dairy/milk we’re using lemon juice. Occasionally you’ll see a recipe that uses lemon juice and a bit of dairy. There’s also a thickening agent; cornmeal, corn flour, cornstarch or all purpose flour (or some combination of them). The pie is typically baked all together in one long bake. 

I departed from the standard way to make lemon chess pie in a few ways; instead of any kind of cornstarch or gluten thickener, I use tapioca starch. Tapioca tends to be superior as a thickening agent because it does the job swiftly without leaving any kind of residue. 

Second, I reduced the sugar a bit because I like my lemon bakes quite tart (if you’re worried it will be too tart for you, I’ve got a note on the full amount of sugar). Third, and this was quite important to me as a lover of pie crust, I blind baked the raw crust before adding the filling.

So bake time is broken up in my recipe, some initial time to bake the crust and then later to bake the filling and finish baking the crust. I did this for two reasons: in my recipe trials I found the bottom of the crust did not fully bake and I had a soft (raw, to me) dough at the bottom of my pie. 

Also, when left to bake for the crust to be close to not being raw, the filling was overbaked. Breaking up the bake time means we can have a fully baked crust and a baked just right filling that doesn’t have an ‘overcooked egg’ texture. 

Recipe Ingredients 

Pie Crust: I use my homemade all butter pie crust for the pie pictured (and all my trials) but I can also see this brown butter pie crust working well here. You may use store-bought if you like or another recipe you’re more comfortable with; you’ll need just one crust. 

Sugar: fine granulated sugar. If you are worried about a ‘too tart’ filling add another 2-3 tablespoons of sugar. I would not reduce the sugar amount listed. 

Lemons: use organic lemons or wash the lemons and then rub them clean with a cloth, this is to remove any wax. The best lemons have a thin skin and are heavy with juice! 

Eggs: whole large eggs. 

Butter: unsalted preferably. No need to soften it, it will be melted. 

Vanilla: pure vanilla extract. 

Salt: halve this amount if your butter is salted. Use fine sea salt. If you only have table salt, use just a pinch. 

Tapioca starch or flour: gluten-free, made from the cassava plant (commonly known as yuca) tapioca powder is a great thickener and won’t give a ‘cloudy’ look to the pie filling as it remains translucent. You may substitute cornstarch if you prefer. 

How to Make Lemon Chess Pie 

First the crust 

Premake the pie dough (homemade pie dough should rest for at least two hours in the fridge before rolling it out). 

Preheat the oven to 375 F. Roll out the pie dough and shape into a 9 inch pie pan.

Some shaping tips: 

• Roll the dough to about an 11-12 inch diameter. This will allow you to fold the edges over so they will be thick and hold shape. 
• Either crimp the crust (pressing the knuckle of an index finger on one hand in between the pie crust held between two fingers on the other hand) or just use a fork to press it into the edge of the pie pan. 
• After shaping, chill the pie dough for about 20 minutes in the fridge. This will help it 

Cover the pie dough with foil or parchment paper (the former is preferred – I used parchment here and some of my crust shrank) and fill it with pie weights or dried beans. Bake the pie crust for about half an hour. 

Second the filling 

While the crust is blind baking, prepare the filling: first melt the butter in a small bowl then set aside to cool.

Set the eggs in a bowl of warm water to bring them to room temperature. 

Zest the lemons over the sugar in a large bowl. Try to avoid the white pith of the lemon. 

Then rub the zest into the sugar, this releases the oils and flavor into the sugar. 

Now that the lemons are zested, juice them until you have 180g of freshly squeezed juice. 

Add the eggs and whisk the mixture until it’s light and creamy (not airy and fluffy), about 1-2 minutes. 

Pour in the melted butter, vanilla and starch. Then whisk to combine until you can’t see any bits of unmixed starch. 

When the pie crust is done blind baking, take it out and lower the heat to 350 F. 

Remove the pie weights and foil/parchment paper and pour in the filling. 

If you see bubbles in the filling (especially big ones), pop them with a fork. 

Bake the pie until the center is puffed and doesn’t jiggle as if it’s ‘wet’ in the center, a little over half an hour but this will depend on the pie pan and oven temperature. 

→Note: the pie will brown on top, this is fine and expected. 

Out of the oven, let the pie come to room temperature then set in the fridge to chill for a few hours. 

It is wonderful warm, but the flavor of the filling intensifies after a few hours and more so overnight. 

What to serve with lemon chess pie 

You’ve got several options for a lemon chess pie topping: dust the top with powdered sugar, a la lemon bars (which they are very, very similar to fyi!), top it with whipped cream, a meringue for a lemon chess/meringue pie hybrid, or, my favorite for this particular pie, serve it with a really good vanilla ice cream. 

→ Note: if someone out there had only limes, I suggest a Lime Chess Pie and change nothing but swap in limes (and be careful of getting any pith in the zest!) 😉 

Lemon Chess Pie Recipe 

Lemon Chess Pie

Smooth and buttery filling with a bright, tart lemon flavor, housed in an all butter pie crust. The filling is as simple as whisking a few ingredients together and it’s fairly easy enough to tell when it’s done.

Prep Time: 30 minutes mins

Cook Time: 45 minutes mins

Yields: 1 9 inch pie

5 from 1 vote

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Ingredients

• One Pie Crust half of this recipe
• 300 g or 1 ½ cups fine granulated sugar add 2-3 tablespoons more sugar if you prefer a sweeter filling
• Zest of 4-6 large lemons
• ¼ tsp fine sea salt
• 5 large eggs at room temperature
• 87 g or 6 tablespoons butter unsalted and melted
• 2 tablespoons tapioca starch or tapioca flour can substitute with cornstarch
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 180 g or ¾ cups freshly squeezed lemon juice

Method

• Shape & bake the premade pie crust
• Pie crust should be premade and had at least 2 hours in the fridge before rolling it out.
• On a floured surface, roll out the pie crust until it’s about 11-12 inches wide (a couple of inches larger than your pie pan).
• Lift the crust and drape it over the pie pan. Press it into the bottom edges of the pan. Trim the crust so it has even edges, leaving a half of an inch overhang. Fold the pie crust under itself then crimp the edges or use a fork to press it into the top sides of the pan. Let the crust chill in the fridge for about 10 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 375 F.
• Cover the pie crust with foil or parchment paper and place pie weights or dried beans in the center. Bake the covered crust for 25 minutes.
• While the crust is baking…

Make the lemon filling

• Pour the sugar into a large bowl, zest the lemons over it. Rub the zest into the lemons using your fingers, this helps release the oils.
• Add the eggs and salt, and whisk very very well - for a full minute. Add the melted butter, and vanilla, then whisk very well.
• Juice the lemons so you have 170g or ¾ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice. Pour it into the mix and whisk well. Add the tapioca flour and whisk the mixture until you can’t see any unmixed starch.
• When the crust is done pre-baking, lower the oven temperature to 350 F. Remove the foil/parchment paper and pie weights. Pour the filling into the crust. Try to poke the larger bubbles with a fork or a toothpick.
• Bake the pie on the middle rack for 35 minutes, until the center doesn’t wobble too much when the pan is gently shaken.
• Let cool on the counter for an hour. Serve warm, or set in the fridge to serve later. The pie will keep for 3-4 days in the fridge.

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